Tomato-Apple-Rosemary Jam....

We are lucky enough to find good tomatoes so late in the fall. And think that tomatoes of this season are even better than the summer ones. Must have to do with the fact that the temperatures are not as high and so the tomatoes we get now are maybe less red but definately more fleshy, less watery and in general pretty aromatic and wonderful...

Also it is apple season. And a couple of weeks ago i got a bundle of apples from a small village called Perithori.. Aparently the apples there are probably the best apples you can get or among the best ones in Greece. And i realised that from the first bite...

We are getting used i think to mediocracy. Especially when it comes to food and the main ingredients. Apples do not taste like apples. They have lost their aroma and even though the shape and colour is there the taste is missing. And we seem ok with it. And forget about it all. Till we taste the real thing...

This is what happened when i took the first bite from the Perithori apple. I was talking to a friend and then i was speechless. Quickly i got another bite just to make sure that the explosion in my mind with the condense information about taste, texture and aroma came from the apple and not from a childhood memory. And with the second bite happened the second explosion... And was in awe... This was the epitome of appleness (if there can be such a word). Full, juicy, aromatic, playful almost. Knew then that these apples had to be made into something special. Had the great tomatoes i bought from Christos in the farmers market in Marousi on Saturday and had read a recipe for a jam by Christine Ferber. She has a great book on jams called Mes Confiture but since it is in French i got the recipe from a blog that i read all the time  Chez Pim.
Really easy to make.
The rates are:
1kg tomatoes, 500g net (In my case it was more like 700g since the tomatoes had a lot of flesh)..
500g Perithori apples, 400g net. Ofcourse you can substitute that with granny smith or your choise of apples.
500 sugar
2 lemons
2 sprigs of rosemary

Apples need to be peeled and cored and sliced very thinly. I used a mandolin for that that made this task really easy. Also have the lemons juiced and put in a non reactive pan together with the apples so that they do not discolour.

Tomatoes need to have their skin removed and so they are crossed with a knife and blanced in boiling water for a few seconds to make peeling them off a breeze.  Then they are cut in half, have the seeds and water removed and chopped in smaller pieces and have them drain in a collander.

Add them with the apples, sugar and rosemary and let them boil softly for a few minutes for sugar to melt, stirring quite a lot. Transfer it to a glass conteiner and cover it and keep it in the fridge for the night.

Next day remove from the fridge, put in a nonreactive pan, remove the rosemary springs and start simmering in low heat making sure you skim off the foam. Also make sure you stir often cause especially the apples can stick to the bottom and make a mess of the whole thing. Continue to boil till apples loose their colour. When that happens remove the fruit and let the syrup boil till it gets to 96 Celcious. Add the fruit and boil for a few more minutes for the whole thing to reach that temperature.

Transfer in clean jars and let them cool upside down. Then you can store them in the fridge or sterilize the jam and keep it in a cabinet.